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Letters to the editor

Tolling for highways is terrible option; 'electronic-repair' rights would be boon.

Tolling option rehashes bad mistakes of past

Regarding the article, "Oregon on the road to freeway tolling," it's clear ODOT assistant director Travis Brouwer has never been to any of the cities whose tolling plans he's considering.

Traffic is still horrendous, if not worse, in metro Miami and Atlanta, despite high occupancy toll lanes. This is simply another tax and will likely increase traffic and congestion. Coming from New York City where it costs $17 to cross the Verrazano Narrows bridge, I can assure you high tolls, regardless of commuting hour, has done nothing to reduce rush-hour congestion.

Oregon seems intent on repeating the mistakes other states made 50 years ago. Nightmare!

Ilan Sklar

Sherwood

Oregon should demand electronic-repair rules

Now that people are talking about how, despite popular belief, people are still putting ridiculous things like diapers in their blue (recycling) bins, I think we need to expand the conversation to how people are disposing of their completely fixable electronics to accumulate as e-waste in landfills.

As a consumer and college student, the amount of money I have to spend replacing my electronics because I don't have inexpensive and convenient options to extend the life of my device is ridiculous. This issue should be more visible in Oregon, and people should start talking about the Right to Repair movement.

Major tech companies like Apple and Microsoft make device repair expensive and complicated for consumers, encouraging people to throw away devices instead of fixing them. Microsoft took business owner Eric Lundgren to court and into prison for copying Microsoft software discs to refurbish old computers, diverting e-waste from landfills. Why do corporate copyrights get more protection than consumers and the environment?

I hope Oregon legislators support legislation for Right to Repair because it would say that Oregon cares about the rights of consumers, access to technology and the environment.

Meredith Stinger

Tigard

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